June 01, 2012

FUTURE PROSPECT: POULTRY KEEPING AMONG THE PASTORALISTS IN NAROK COUNTY

Poultry sector in the country during
the last ten years has witnessed cyclic boom and burst phenomena due to
accelerating factors such as high demand for poultry products as a result of
overall economic growth and consequent rise in incomes, investments from food
giants, disintegrating joint family system leaving limited scope for home
cooking etc. on one hand and decelerating factors such as high feed cost due to
instable supplies of agro-feed ingredients, emergence of deadly poultry
diseases and resultant distortions in domestic as well as global poultry trade,
limited investments in poultry infrastructure etc.

Majority of country’s population living
below poverty line is suffering from malnutrition wherein poultry can serve as
an important tool to provide household nutritional security and supplementary incomes
especially to the vulnerable sections of society. Therefore,
technological support is crucial for the development and consistent growth of
the poultry sector to protect and safeguard the interests of all stakeholders
in the poultry value chain particularly the more vulnerable small poultry
holders throughout the Country.

Rural poultry also called poor
man's meat/ bank/ social safety net etc. is a major prospect to pastoralist fraternity
since land size is depreciating and therefore calling for a need to practice
enterprises that require limited land. In Narok South Sub-county, Narok County,
the women and youth have already ventured into this enterprise, although its
growth path is full of hurdles.

In the Manyattas, families keep small flocks ranging from 10 – 30 family
chicken, mainly indigenous birds. Birds are left to forage during the day and
housed at night. There is no supplemental feeding. Housing is still a challenge
them having constructed poultry houses. These houses are in poor condition,
subjecting birds to adverse weather conditions and predators at night. Ownership of these birds is solely a women
and youth affair with older men concentrating with livestock (cattle, sheep,
goats and donkeys).

Diseases and pests are a major
impediment to poultry farming among the rural community. Maasai community is
known to keep livestock and are undoubtedly knowledgeable as far as livestock
diseases (diagnosis, treatment, control and prevention) concerns. However, when
it comes to poultry, they have scanty to no information hence leaving survival
of these birds to fate.

Despite several challenges Poultry
farming has uplifted their economic status. Where an egg is retailed at Kshs 15
and a grower chicken at between Kshs 400- 500, selling fifty eggs and 1 chicken
in a fortnight generates sufficient income to supplement the husbands little
left-behinds for running home food budget for the family, since their financial
budget is minimal. Economically, this project has proved viable with high
turn-over of new recruits into the enterprise and financial gains from sales. There is therefore a critical
need to holistically address the challenges affecting the poultry keeping
enterprise among the Maasai community (women and youth) in Narok South
Sub-county.

In order to improve this
enterprise, I recommend the following measures:

·Veterinarians and animal health
workers: volunteer constructive information on the poultry keepers on poultry diseases,
their diagnosis, treatment and control. This information will go a long way to equipping
the poultry keepers hence plan for future contingency measures. Also use of Over-The-Counter
medications to treat poultry incase outbreaks of treatable diseases occurs.

·Livestock production experts:
provide extension services to poultry farmers on poultry breeding, nutrition,
housing and husbandry among other issues in order to maximize the output from
the stock.

·Veterinary Pharma players: this
is a virgin ground for marketing of poultry products and therefore establishing
brands among the consumers will boost your future sales in this area. The challenge
is to start. Training poultry keepers on various products and their safe use is
wanting.

·Developmental Non-Governmental
organizations: the women and youth need your assistance. And as part of project
pool to choose from, poultry keeping (rural indigenous chicken) is a very profitable
industry already established and running. Therefore, expanding this project by
supplying starter stock (to those who doesn’t have), better breeding stock and
also advocacy on use of poultry and poultry products by the Maa community rather
than just keeping them for sale will be a substantial contribution to the rural
welfare in general (cheap proteins and income).

·Business fraternity: through
increased buying of these birds and their products, you will be encouraging
more production of the same. Flock from these areas can contribute to an
unmatched demand for poultry and poultry products in the urban areas all the
way to Nairobi. Giving poultry keeper’s competitive prices for their products
is a sure way of winning more into the enterprise through financial behavioral
change tact.

As a personalized initiative: I
have offered to educate poultry keepers on diagnosis of various poultry
diseases, and subsequently advice them on poultry nutrition, housing and
breeding whenever a chance comes up (more especially when I visit homes to
treat or vaccinate livestock). Let us put together our limited resources and
establish this enterprise among the pastoral community. It is our obligation.

Postal Address

Personal profile

A young and vibrant Veterinary Surgeon and a Training Scientist in Applied Parasitology, who is keen on linking research to development through enhancing communication between researchers and livestock keepers, aimed at improving livestock health and production, enhancing food security and ultimately reducing poverty risks and impacts. Dr. Sabuni has a penchant to poultry work, more so in veterinary entomology and protozoology area and to where he is establishing a career as a field based researcher.

My Mission

To strengthen the livelihoods of the resource challenged community through enhancing livestock health and productivity. Access to quality animal health services and good animal husbandry practices will lead to safe and quality animal products, reduction in zoonotic diseases and better human health.